Now in its 40th year, the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art and the College of Charleston Studio Art Department are proud to present Young Contemporaries 2025. The annual exhibition is a celebration of talented artists at the College of Charleston. With works selected by a nationally renowned juror, the exhibition reflects the strength and diversity of practice in the School of the Arts’ rigorous programs. Featuring a wide range of media, the exhibition showcases the efforts of the student body at the College.

Allen Frame will serve as the juror and awards judge for Young Contemporaries 2025. 

Concurrent with Young Contemporaries is the Salon des Refusés, showing in the Hill Gallery of the Cato Center for the Arts. The works in the Salon are chosen by Studio Art faculty. The origin of a Salon des Refusés dates to Paris in 1863, when artists who had been rejected from the official Salon caused such a protest that Emperor Napoleon III ordered another exhibition held for them. Among the painters in the original Salon des Refusés were Camille Pissaro, Henri Fantin-Latour, James M. Whistler, and Edouard Manet.

The Young Contemporaries and Salon des Refusés category awards are funded by the Dean’s Excellence Fund for the College of Charleston School of the Arts. The Norton M. Seltzer Prize is funded by Mindelle Seltzer, and the Karin Jurick Prize is funded by the Robert Lange Studios community.

All College of Charleston degree-seeking students enrolled in the Fall 2024/Spring 2025 academic year, including December 2024 graduates, are eligible to submit their work. All majors and levels are encouraged to submit. You do not need to be currently enrolled in a Studio Art course to submit. 

Original (and dry!) artworks completed in 2024 and up to the submission date are eligible for entry. Students may submit up to three artworks per medium (prints, sculptures, etc.). 

All students submitting artworks must include an Artwork Label attached to the back of each artwork submitted AND turn in a Conditions of Submission contract with your entries on Submission Day. You are encouraged to complete these forms PRIOR to dropping off your artwork at the Halsey Institute. Printed forms will be available at the Studio Art Department and outside of the Halsey Institute.